"Hundreds of officers are entitled to retire in the first half of 2018, and if this headlong dash to balance the books isn't stopped in its tracks, it's possible we will see the PSNI reduce in size to below 6,000 for the first time."

Mr Lindsay said the cuts were a "worrying development and one we will resist" at a time when officers faced "severe terrorist threat" as well as "more complex crime and intolerable workplace pressures".

"The PSNI is also under pressure to deal with an increasing number of unfunded legacy matters, which add significantly to unique financial pressures which are being loaded onto the organisation."

He continued: "There must be full realisation that a modern-day police service needs to be properly resourced. Instead of brutal, poorly thought-out cuts, we need politicians and civil servants to go in to bat for the PSNI rather than acquiesce or prevaricate."